Paper-feeding machine.



F. B. LCKTON.

- Y PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

I PPLICATION FILED OCT. 16, i914. v Patented DBC. 28, 1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

F. B. LOCKTON. PAPER FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATIONfILED OCT. I6. 1914.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5] no@ who@ F'. B. LocKToN) PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6, |914A 1,l65,521. Patented De.28,1915.

e SHEETS-sneer a.

Y mento@ .foam/ ge @MW @51g @wi/mwa 1 Y F. B. LOCKTON.

PAPER FEEDI'NG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED ocr.16, 19|4.

'Patmlted Dec.. 28, 191 .13.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

F. B. LOCKTON. PAPER FEEDING MACHINE.

` 'L APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6, 1914.

1,165,521, Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

6 SHEETS-SHEkT 5.

. F.4 B. LOCKTON.

PAPER FEEDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6, I9I4.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

6 SHEETS .SHEET 6A rated in a simple and efficient manner.

UNITED kSTATES PATENT FLANK B. LOCKTON, PEARLiRIVER, NEW YORK, SSIGNOR TO DEXTER FOLDER COMPANY, OF PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEIN YORK.

PAPER-Pennine MAcHii-m.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patente-d Dec. 28, 1915.

Application filed October 16, 1914. Serial No. 866,957.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be. 1t known that I, FRANK B. LooK'roN, a citizen of the United States, and resident vof Pearl River, in the county of Rockland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Feeding Machines, of which the following is a full and clear specification.

This invention relates to feeding machines in which sheet-engaging instrumentalities such for example as combing wheels, are periodically moved into and out of engagement with the top sheet of a pile for the purpose of imparting simultaneous feeding movements of. different magnitudes to a number of the sheets of said pile, the uppermost sheet being subjected to the greatest amount of displacement and those below it being 'displaced in lesser degrees in gradation according to their position relatively to the top. T he sheets of a pile are thus sepa- It has already been provided for in the application of rl`albot C. Dexter, Serial Number 795.486 to regulate the sheet-feeding action by an automatic regulation of the pressure exerted by the tail drag upon a pile of sheets` such pressure being governed by the period of activity of the sheet combing instrumentality.

The priuiary object of the present invention is to provide improved means for regulating the sheet-feeding action bv regulating the'pressure exerted by the sheet-feeding instrumentality in connection with suitable and eflicient means 'for terminating the action of said sheet-feeding instrumentality.

Various constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts will be found among the other objects of the present invention,

reference being had to the claiins in connec` tion with the accompanying drawings in `\vhich,-

l `igure l is a top plan view of a sheett'eeding machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, parts being broken away; Fig. 2 is a section on an enlarged scale o-n the line II--IL Fig. 1. parts being broken away; Fig. 3 is a section Similaito Fig. 2 with the parts in different positions; Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2. showing the positions of the parts after the sheet-actuated mechanism 'has been tripped; Fig. 5 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of one side of the machine,

`parts being broken away and parts shown in section; Fig. 6 is a section onthe line VI-VI, Fig. 5; and, Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the sheet-actuated pendulum mechanism.

In the, embodiment shown in the drawings, the sheets of the pile P are retained along their forward edges by a vertical guard 1 with forwardly extending extremities 2 which permita graded displacement of the sheets near the 'top as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The machine asa whole is best shown in Fig. l in which a shaft 3 is mounted in the side frames l and 5.

.Journaled upon the shaft 3 are sleeves 6 and 7, each of which is provided with rearwardly extending arms 8. In the forward ends of said arms are journaled comber spindles 9 to each of which is keyed a combing wheel 10. As shown best in Fig. 5, each of the comber spindles 9 has also keyed thereto a sprocket 1l over which runs a chain l2 for delivering power to said comber spindle 9 from another sprocket 13 (see Figs. 3 and el) keyed to the shaft 3. Power may be delivered to the shaft 3 by any suitable means not specilically concerned in the present invention.

Each of the sleeves 6 is withheld against longitudinal displacement on lthe shaft 3 by means of collars l-l which are secured to the shaft 3 on the inner ends of said sleeves. As shown in Fig. the right hand arm 8 on the sleeve G carries an outwardly presented lug 15 which under certain conditions is adapted to be engaged by a lug 1S carried by the hub 17 of a lever provided with an upwardly extending arm 18 and a depending arm 19. A spring rod 20 which is slidably mounted in the eye-bolt 21 has its forward end pivotally connected at 22 with the depending arm 19. spring 23 is interposed between the eye-bolt 21 and a collar 2l which is secured to the spring rod 20, thus providing a. resilient pressure tending to force the depending arm 19 rearwardly. As shown in Fig. G, the arm 18 carries a pin 25 which projects in opposite directions on either side of the outer end of said arm. Journaled upon a pin 2G (see Fig. 3) carried by the side frame is a hell crank lever with one arm 27 normally disposed horizontally and pro-vided with a cut-out portion 28 l depending arm 29.

A spring rod having its lower end journaled upon a. pin 31 projecting laterally from the arm 27 of the bell crank lever, carries a co-llar 32 between which and an abutment 33 projecting fromthe side frame 5 is disposed a. spring 34 which normally retains the arm 27 in engagement with pin 25.

A connecting rod 35 has its rear end connected at 36 to the-depending arm'29, its forward end being connected at 37`to an upwardly presented arm 38 which is carried by a. sleeve 39 (see Figs. 3, 4 and 7). Forwardly presented arms 40 which are carried by the sleeve 39 serve to journal a shaft 41 which carries at one end, a pawl 42 which as shown best in Fig. 2. is adapted at certain times to be thrown into engagement with a ratchet 43 keyed to the shaft 4. said shaft being preferably that on which the feed rollers 45 are mounted.

Intermediately of the arms 40. `the shaf-t 41 carries a pendulum 46 which is adapted at certain periodic intervals to be actuated by a sheet passing from the pile P and which by its displacement, operates to throw the pawl 42 into the atchet 43. The combined gravity effect of pawl 42 and pendulum 46 tends to hold said pawl and pendulum in the position shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 4. According to the present invention,

whenever during the feeding movement of the top sheet of a pile. the sheet next underlying it is not forced forwardly into a position from which the next normal feeding operation would ordinarily present it to the front gages of the machine which is to receive the sheet, suitable and efficient means are provided for rendering the feeding action more intense so'as to make up its lack of For this purpose, a reference to 'Figs. 2,l 3 and 5 will show that the forwardly presented ends `2 of the guide bars 1`,l are provided with openings 47. lVhen a sheet covers said openings, the roller 48 mounted at the lower end of a lever arm 49 will be prevented from entering said openings. On the other hand if a sheet has not been moved a sufficient distance to cover said opening. the rollers' 48 )vill enter the opening 47 and cause a downward displacement ofthe arm 49, unless the cam mechanism presently to be described` retains said arm against displacement. Said arm is keyed to a shaft 50 which extends trans-- versely of the machine. Keyed to saidshaft on opposite sides are bell crank levers 51. each provided with a cam arm Each of the cam arms has journaled thereon a cam roller 53 which runs on a cam 54. said eam 54 being keyed to a cam shaft Rigid with the arm is another arm 56 'which carries at its upper end a cani `roller 57, saidcam roller having running contact with the upper surface of a detent 58,-which is carried by a shaft 59, and as shown in Fig. 5, said shaft 59 is provided with a spring 60 tending at all times to move the detent 58 upwardly. Said detent is normally adapted at certain times to positively engage an angle arm 61 which is secured to the forward end of a plunger 62, said plungerbeing 'reciprocably mountedin'a suitable bearing lug 63 and a bracket 64. A collar 65 mounted on said plunger serves to confine a compression spring 66 between it and the bearing lug 63, thus imparting a constant tendency toforce the plunger 62 rearwardly. The rear end 66 of said plunger is enlarged to adapt it to engage ay laterally projecting pin 67 carried by a lever arm 68 which projects upwardly from the sleeve 6, the result beingthat whenever the detent 58 releases the lever arm 61, the spring 66 forces `the plunger62 against the'pin 67 and adds its pressure to the weight of the combing wheel.

thus causing said combing wheel to engage.

disposed thereon to adapt it to engage a roller 73 which is journaled on a cam bar 74, the rear end of said cam bar belng provided with branches 75 which straddle the cam shaft 55 and serve to support said c'am bar. The rearend of said cam bar is journaled uponthe pin 25 carried by the lever arm 18 4(see Figs. 4 and 6). Drop rollers 76 are provided, but inasmuch as they have no specific bearingl upon the present invention.

means for raising andl lowering the same have not been shown on the drawmgs.

The operation of my improved machine` will now be readily understood and briefly described is as follows: As shown in Fig. 1. it will be understood that the. combing mechanism is duplicated on opposite sides of the machine, so that whenever the forward edge of a sheet whichis being fed from the pile l), comes into contact with the pendulum 46 on one side before it does on the other. the movement (pf one edge of the sheet will be retarded a'nd come to a standstill before that of the other edge of the sheet. thus serving to straighten the sheet. Referring to Fig. 2 when the machine is acting normally, i. c., when after each top sheet is fed,otf, the sheet therebeneath will occupy the position shown in Fig. 2, the cam 69 traveling in the direction of the arrow, permits the cam roller to-lmove forwardly. l Immediately the the pawl i2 into engagement with the ratchet a3, the result being that the rapidly moving ratchet kiclrsthe pawl i2 upwardly and oscillates the sleeve 39 by throwing the arms l0 into the Vposition shown in full lines in l41 ig. l. rlhe pawl -l-l and pendulum 46 then assume thefull linev position shown in Fig. l, pawl lghaving been disengaged from the ratchet t3 by the momentum imparted thereto by said ratchet. This movement is accompanied by a rearward movement of the arm 38 and connecting rod 35 which in turn operatesthe bell crank lever arm 29 to throw the lever arm 27. into elevated positionshown in Fig. l against the pressure of the spring Ji-l. As a consequence. lever arm 27 is disengaged from the pin 25, whereupon the pressure of spring 2B acting upon the arm 19 at onceraises the combing Wheel 10 from the paper. thus terminating the combing action. Let it be supposed, however. that during the preceding combing action the nent top sheet was left in the position shown in Fig. 3. Under these conditions, during the time that the roller 70 travels over the outer run of the cam (i9, the pin G7 being in abutment with the plunger 62 overcomes the pressure of the spring GG. Ait the same time. the detent 58 is retained in the position shown inyllig. 2 by means of the spring 6() shown in Fig. Shortly before the cani 69 reaches a position in which the cam roller T() travels to the inner run of said cam. the cam roller drops into the hollow in the cam 5l., thus permitting the arm #i9 to drop as shown in Fig. il. The consequence of this action is that the cam roller 57 is permitted to depress the detent 58, so that as the cam roller T() drops down to the inner run of the cam (lil, the combing y wheel l() moves downvardly to the paper under vthe pressure of the spring 6G, as well as under its own weight. 'lhe result is that an additional pressure is thus applied to the combing action which produces a more rapid inovement of the top sheet until it strikes the pendulum 4G when 'the lever arm Q7 is displaced upwardly and releases the spring 23 in the manner already pointed out. As a result, the arm'lQ throws the lug 1G up wardly into engagement with the lug 15 carried by the sleeve (l. and Ainasmuch as the tension in the spring 23 is grez'iter than the tension in the spring (36. the combing whcel l0 is forced upwardly in the manner pointed out. lifter this operation has taken place. the finger cam T2 eventually comes into engagement with the camroller 73 and by forcing the pin 9.5 in a clockwise direction around the shaft 3, eventually permits the spring 3l to force theV lever arm 27 downwardly so as to latch the lever arm 18 in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

lt will be understood that various modili ations and changes may be made in the general construction and arrangement of parts for applying an additional pressure to the combing wheel in order to facilitate the moiemcnts of the sheets, so l do not wish to be limited to thev specific construction shown on the drawings.

l claim:

1. In a sheet feeding machine, the coinbi nation with a sheet feeding instrumentality adapted to Vexert a normally constant pres sure on the top sheet of a pile, of means for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality, including an element adapted to operate by gravity to throw said additional pressure means into action, said element being suitably disposed to be sustained in inoperative position by said top sheet when normally fed by said sheet feeding instrumentality.

i 2. ln feeding machine, the combination with a feeding instrumentality adapted to exert a normally constant pressure on the top sheet of a pile, of periodically operated means for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality during its action said means being adapted to be rendered inoperative by said sheet if said sheet has reached a predetermined point in its travel. 3. ln a feeding machine, the combination with a feeding instrumentality adapted to exert a normally constant pressure. of means for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality, said means beingcontrolled by the position of the top sheet on the pile. el. In a feeding machine, the combination with a sheet feeding instrumentality adapted to exert a normal feeding pressure upon the top sheet of a. pile of means controlled by the position of said sheet for applying additional pressureA to said instrumentality prior to the action of said instrumentality on the sheet.

5. In a feeding machine, the combination with a sheet feeding instrumentality adapted to exert a normal feeding pressure upon the top sheet of a pile, of means controlled by the position of said sheet for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality prior to and during its action on the sheet.

(l. ln a sheet feeding machine. the combination ofa combing wheel normally adapted to apply a substantially constant pressure to the top sheet of a pile, of sheet controlled means for intermittently applying additional pressure to said combing wheel 'i'. ln a feeding machine. the combination' with a sheet combing instrumentality, of

means for automatically changing the pressure exerted by said instrumentality including a gravity-operated element suitably disposed to be sustained in inoperative positionlby a sheet normally fed by said instrumentality.

8. In a sheet feeding machine, the combination with an automatically controlled sheet separating device, of sheet controlled means for varying the pressure of said dev1ce.

9. Iri a sheet feeding machine, the combination with an automatically controlled sheet separating device, of sheet controlled means for varying the pressure of said device, said meansbeing automatically operated to modify the velocity of feed of the top sheet of a pile. 10. In a sheet feeding machine, the combination with a sheet-actuated pendulum and a. sheet combing. device, the combing period of which is controlled by said pendulum, of sheet controlled means for regulating the pressure on said sheet combing device. v

11.'In a sheet-feeding machine, the combination of a sheet-combing device movable into and out of engagement With the top sheet of a pile, a sheet actuated pendulum for controlling the movement away from the pile, and means for varying the pressure eX- erted by said combing device, said means being adapted to be rendered inoperative by a sheet in a predetermined position. l.

12. In a sheet-feeding machine, a sheetfeeding instrumentality movable into and out of engagement with the top sheet of a pile under normally constant pressure, of means for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality, means normally holding said additional pressure means inoperative, and sheet controlled means for automatically releasing said holding means.

13. In a sheet feeding machine, a sheetfeeding instrumentality movable into and out of engagement with the top sheet of'a pile under normally constant pressure, of means for applying additional pressure to said instrumentality, means normally holding said additional pressure means inoperative, and sheet controlled means for automatically releasing said holding means, said y additional pressure means including a plunger under pressure tending to drive it against said instrumentality under the control of said holding means.

14. In a sheet-feeding machine, a sheetfeeding instrumentality movable into and out of engagement with the top sheet of a pile under normally constant pressure, a plunger under pressure suitably disposed to apply additional pressure to said instruand sheet-controlled means for releasing said detent, said sheet controlled means including a lever arm normally sustained in inoperative position by a sheet underneath it and adapted to become operative when a sheet is absent.

16. In a sheet feeding machine, a Sheetfeeding instrumentality movable into and out of. engagement with the top sheet of a pile under normally constant pressure, a

-plunger under pressure suitably disposed to apply additional pressure to said instrumentality, a detent normally. holding said plunger away from said instrumentlity, and sheet-controlled means for releasing said detent, said sheet-controlled means including a lever arm normally sustained in inoperative position by a sheet underneath it and adapted to become operative vwhen a sheet is absent, said lever arm being provided with a cam arm, and a -cam which retains said sheet-controlled means inoperative during the movement of a preceding sheet from the pile. i

17. In a sheet-feeding machine, a sheetfeeding instrumentality movable into and out of engagement with the top sheet of a pile under normally constant pressure, a

"inoperative position by a sheet underneath it and adapted to become operative when a sheet is absent, said lever arm being provided with' a cam arm and a cam which retains said sheet controlled means inoperative during the movement of apreceding sheet from the pile, said cam being adapted to release said cam arm immediately prior to theinstant the sheet feeding instrumentality contacts with the pile.

Witnesses:

SOPHIA S. LooMIs, MABEL BARRY. 

